Written by

Detroit Free Press Sports Writer

Helene St. James / Detroit Free Press

hiSTORY lESSON

This is the Red Wings’ 10th playoff series since winning the Stanley Cup in 2008; they’ve been tied at 2-2 after four of them. How the previous three went: 2009

Wings 4, Ducks 3

Detroit scored four goals on Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller in Games 5 and 7 of the second round, both at home. Daniel Cleary netted the series winner at Joe Louis Arena with just three minutes remaining in regulation of Game 7. 2009

Penguins 4, Wings 3

The Wings won Game 5 at home in the Cup Finals on a shutout by Chris Osgood, but dropped the next two games. Game 7 was especially tough; the Wings scored just once in 58 shots on Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury. 2010

Wings 4, Coyotes 3

The Wings’ first opening round as an underdog in years ended with Detroit winning Games 5 and 7 in Phoenix. Jimmy Howard allowed just one goal to the Coyotes in each of the Wings’ victories.

Red Wings vs. Ducks

Series tied, 2-2

GAME

RESULT

April 30

Anaheim 3, Detroit 1

May 2

Detroit 5, Anaheim 4 (OT)

Saturday

Anaheim 4, Detroit 0

Monday

Detroit 3, Anaheim 2 (OT)

GAME

SITE

TIME

5: Tonight

Anaheim

10:00

6: Friday

Detroit

8:00

7: Sunday*

Anaheim

TBA

*If necessary

TV: Games 5-7 on FSD; Game 5 also on NBC Sports Network; Game 6 also on CNBC.

ANAHEIM, CALIF. — The Red Wings held a brief meet-and-greet at their hotel with the media Tuesday after landing at John Wayne Airport, reserving their energy for the only thing that matters this time of year.

Two overtime victories against the Ducks have tied this first-round series going into tonight’s Game 5 at the Honda Center, where the Wings won their first game last week. They pulled off another thriller Monday in Game 4, at home, when Damien Brunner sank Gustav Nyquist’s chip-shot to set up a best-of-three scenario.

That’s pretty much what was expected, given how rarely series end quickly anymore.

“I’m a big believer in that that’s how playoffs are,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “You just keep playing, and you take them one at a time, and the highs and lows of it. And there’s huge highs and there’s huge lows, that’s just the playoffs every year. One minute you think, ‘Oh, my God, we’ll never win,’ and the next minute you just won and you think you’re going to win the series.”

Monday’s performance was par for the Wings’ course all season: Desperate hockey when needed. The consistent inconsistency continues.

No team has yet to win two in a row as the seventh-seeded Wings attempt to upset the Ducks. Maybe tonight that changes: It doesn’t take advanced math skills to calculate one team will be in a much better position than the other after the first possible swing game. That’s the sort of pressure that usually makes the Wings play with enough determination to win.

“Our two best games were Games 2 and 4,” captain Henrik Zetterberg said. “Those are two, also, we had a good start — we really took charge right away and we played more in their end more than ours.”

The Wings will once again have to make do without Justin Abdelkader, serving out the last of his two-game suspension, but the Ducks also expect to remain without defenseman Toni Lydman, dealing with headaches since the illegal hit.

The Wings did fine without Abdelkader on Monday, buoyed by Nyquist, who is back to playing like he belongs in a top-six mix after struggling upon arrival from the minors early. That line — Nyquist, Brunner and Joakim Andersson — isn’t going to intimidate anyone defensively, but Nyquist and Brunner are high-skilled offensive guys and Andersson has shown a knack for doing dirty work, like standing in front of the net. That’s where he was when Brendan Smith’s shot went in, battling Francois Beauchemin.

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“Any way you look at it, they’ve been involved in success,” Babcock said of Andersson’s line. “Andy is a guy you’re comfortable with all over the rink just because he knows how to play with the puck. The other two guys take more risks, but they’re scoring. Brunner is leading us in scoring in the playoffs and not playing tons of minutes, so he’s doing a good job for us.’

The Ducks left Detroit lamenting they had “let one slip away,” but they played like a team willing to let a potential 3-1 lead slip away, everyone but Jonas Hiller, anyway. Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau accused some of his players of being passengers in the game, noting that “your best players have to be your best players to be successful. We need everybody if we’re going to win.”

They’re likely to come out with a much better effort tonight, before their fans, especially after some tough love from Boudreau on Tuesday. Talking with reporters at the Honda Center, Boudreau said he addressed his concerns with a little chat, “and then kick them in the rear.”

Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf sounded much like Zetterberg, saying that, “we’re far from frustrated, this is playoff hockey, the best time of the year. We always knew it was going to be a long series, we’re playing a good hockey team. One goal the other way, everyone’s happy as hell in here. You’ve got to find a way to contribute and dig in.”

Come Sunday at the latest, one team is going to be happy, another going home. The Wings already have shown that when it matters most, they get the happy endings. That resolve, that relentlessness, can’t afford to subside for another game.